SACRAMENTO – Christos Mastrokyriakos, a construction management student from San Francisco, has proven himself a thoughtful boyfriend. One time last month, when he went to pick his girlfriend up from work, he wanted to make sure he had fresh breath before greeting her. While at the store to buy gum, he turned in a winning Big Spin Scratchers® ticket and got another Big Spin ticket. He scratched it and uncovered “Spin-Spin-Spin” on his ticket. “This is a dream come true to even be here and have this opportunity,” Mastrokyriakos said. He plans to take his girlfriend on vacation either to Hawaii or Australia for New Year’s. The latest episode of the Big Spin 
show aired Saturday, September 6. The grand total won by all contestants was $182,500.
Mario Alvarado, a social worker from Cudahy, is a considerate and giving son, however, he is somewhat a novice when it comes to the Lottery. When he scratched his Big Spin ticket and found “TV Show” three times, he explained his reaction, “I didn’t think I had won anything until I read the back and thought, well, I guess I’ll fill it out.” Alvarado says he asked his mom what she wanted him to buy her. She told him she wanted a donkey. So with his $60,000 prize, she will get a donkey and he says, “I’ll probably buy her something else too.”
Winner’s Summary
| Christos Mastrokyriakos |
San Francisco |
$100,000 |
| Mario Alvarado |
Cudahy |
$60,000 |
| Tristan Holliday |
Fair Oaks |
$5,000 |
| Ana Fuentes |
Santa Ana |
$4,000 |
| Traci Carillo |
Agoura Hills |
$2,500 |
| Adrian Romero |
Santa Ana |
$2,000 |
| Margarita Pacheco |
Bakersfield |
$2,000 |
| Thach Bui |
Elk Grove |
$1,750 |
| Dennis Young |
Ventura |
$1,750 |
| Jose Carrillo Soto |
Riverside |
$1,750 |
| Barbara McDowell |
Carson |
$1,750 |
| |
TOTAL |
$182,500 |
For high resolution photos of Christos Mastrokyriakos or Mario Alvarado please contact (916) 324-9639 or e-mail newsroom@calottery.com.
More than 95 cents of every Lottery dollar is returned to the community in the form of contributions to education, prizes and retail commissions. The California Lottery contributes at least 34 cents of every dollar that players spend on Lottery products to public education and returns more than 50 percent of sales to players in the form of prizes. Since its inception in 1985, the Lottery has contributed more than $20 billion to California schools out of total sales of nearly $55 billion. Retailers benefit too, earning $3.5 billion in compensation since 1985.